Toytoa China Exec Joins Visionary Vehicles - Chery Factory Team
Bricklin Congratulates Chery and Says Wen Tianzhong, Former Director of the Toyota Technology Center in China, Will Add Significant Quality and Expert Manufacturing Techniques to Chery/Visionary Vehicles U.S. Models
New York, NY and Wuhu, China - Malcolm Bricklin, founder of Visionary Vehicles LLC, today congratulated partner Chery Automobile Company on its aggressive quality campaign with the hiring of Toyota veteran Wen Tianzhong as Chery's newest Vice President of Product Quality and Manufacturing. Mr. Tianzhong comes to Chery with more than a decade of senior management experience in the auto industry, a majority of which was gained overseeing Toyota's manufacturing interests in China.
Mr. Bricklin said, "We have always admired Toyota's processes and assembly techniques as a model. Chery is clearly taking the right steps to achieve world-class quality."
Mr. Lin Zhang, Head of Chery's International division said, "Wen Tianzhong has studied the best practices of Toyota from the inside out. He brings a passion for quality to Chery Automobile Company."
"This is a very bold and exciting move by Chery," said Dennis Gore, Visionary Vehicles Chief Engineer and President of Research and Development. "Toyota's manufacturing techniques and assembly processes, build some of the finest cars in the world. The addition of Wen Tianzhong to Chery's team of top notch executives is a definitive sign of Chery's commitment to long-term quality and manufacturing excellence."
After being trained by Toyota in the "Toyota Way" in 1995, Wen Tianzhong took the helm of the Toyota Technology Center in China as its Director. He assumed the role Director of the Tianjun Toyota Automobile Company in 2000, where he oversaw the quality and technology of Toyota's product. In 2004 Mr. Tianzhong became a Vice President of the Great Wall Automobile Company.
As Chery's newest Vice-President, Wen Tianzhong will be responsible for managing Chery's automobile quality and production.
"Executives from all over the world have studied the 'Toyota Way," said Paul Lambert, Visionary Vehicles President of North American Marketing. "Mr. Tianzhong personifies the focus on quality and the dedication to detail that has made the 'Toyota Way' world famous. We can't wait to communicate Chery's latest competitive advantage to our dealer network."
"Wen Tianzhong's unparalleled production experience and knowledge is an incredible addition to Chery's management team, and is another telltale sign of Chery's dedication to bringing high caliber China luxury North America," said Mr. Bricklin.
Visionary Vehicles and Chery Automobile Company have a plan to eventually sell 2,000,000 units in North America with the first 1,000,000 units to be manufactured at the large, expansive Chery factory in Wuhu, China and the next (additional) 1,000,000 units to be manufactured at new Visionary Vehicles/Chery facilities in the United States. For more information, visit www.vvcars.com.
High-resolution images of the Chery factory are available for download at: http://www.vvcars.com/imagearchive.html.
About Visionary Vehicles
Automotive entrepreneur, Malcolm Bricklin, and his team of experienced professionals established Visionary Vehicles as an international automobile company with the mission to bring an exciting new brand of aggressively priced, beautifully styled, high quality vehicles into North America.
After searching the globe, Visionary Vehicles discovered the ideal manufacturing partner in Chery Automobile Company (Wuhu, China). Over the past several months, Visionary Vehicles and Chery's manufacturing teams have created a dynamic working relationship that brings innovation, a long-term product strategy, and "quick response" capabilities to the marketplace to give its brand an incredible competitive advantage.